This is for my GP essay. Read and comment please. Thanks. Xp

Are leaders born or are they made? Or maybe both?
This could be one of the most significant questions that have ever been asked throughout history. Many believe that leaders are born and not made. The truth is that sometimes this ‘popular’ belief is used just as an excuse to justify their lack of leadership qualities. All of us have the ability to change our beliefs, our behavior and our personalities. All of us have the ability to become leaders. We just need to know how.

Every single individual is born as equals, no matter who they are or where they are from. Every single one of us is born with similar traits and characteristics that are closely tied to leadership. The only fundamental factor, that decides whether we are fit to lead others or not, is how we harness those special traits.

It should be clear that a person cannot be born as a ‘real’ leader. Logically speaking, one can be born with unique skills that can help shape a leader but it is almost certain that one cannot be a leader with only skills alone. They are within us and for most people, they stay within. Such skills include confidence, passion and the willingness to learn from mistakes. Take communications for an example. It takes work and comes easier for someone with a gift for expression and listening.

Now, this is not to imply that leaders and everyone else should stop in developing whatever skills they might possess. The point is that not everyone has the talent to be a leader without the proper training or practice. These skills need to be developed just from the main fact that things and times changes. A person’s personality constantly changes from the very moment they say their first words until the moment they take their last breath. They can be changed base on the influence from the environment and family they were born in. The key is to recognize where your limits are and work around them without developing non-leadership aspects.

Leaders are born and not made in the sense that only a handful of people have the motivation to become leaders by continually striving to improve the natural talents they were born with. Being born with leadership qualities doesn’t automatically mean they will be a good leader any more than Beethoven was born able to compose a musical piece. Not everyone can be leaders without hard work and dedication.

Therefore, the argument whether leaders are born or made does not take into account the effects of experience on our personalities, behavior and basically ‘us’ in general.

Regardless of their characteristics or personality, some people are born into positions of leadership. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Prince William of England are examples of leaders who are born into power. They are exposed to situations where they are needed to act as leaders, causing them to be influential and in their own rights.

On the same light, by comparing a person who is musically inclined with one who is tone-deaf, the individual will progress faster than the one who is tone-deaf even when they undergo the same training. Although the tone-deaf individual may improve to some extent, the talented individual’s progress would be more obvious. This is the same with leadership. People who are born with the talent to be a leader are easy to distinguish. A person’s personality is the perfect combination of psychological qualities that affects how they interact with others.

Leadership is a skill and a habit. It improves with practice. As we improved, we worry less on the technicalities and focus more on the result to be achieved.

The same goes for personality. It is a set of responses that have become habits. Faced with a challenge, we try to respond. If it works, we remember it and we use it again. Slowly it becomes a habit if we use it often enough. Take any sets of habits and we can form our own special approach to life. Every individual should strive to their fullest potential.

It is true that people can be trained to be leaders but more often than none, these people pales in comparison with those who have natural leadership talents. It is not the training that produces a leader, but rather it is the hidden potential a person has that help make the leader.

Therefore, in a sense, people are born to be leaders. But only with experience and practice will they become great leaders.

Labels: essay, GP, leaders